27 Waking from the Dream of Mulberry Fields

Hokuto found herself lying down on grass.

It was a mulberry field, though there were a variety of flowers dotted around the area. She opened her eyes and looked up at the clear, blue sky. It was beautiful. Picturesque. She wondered what happened, because the last thing she recalled was being thrown into a magic teleportation portal to god knows where. She was just a ten year old child, forced out of her own country!

How unrealistic! How lamentable!

Sighing, Hokuto slowly stood up and gazed into the distance. As far as her eyes could see there was only grass, and some flowers, very few trees. She began to walk aimlessly forward, seemingly lost. Lost in thought and lost in reality, she had lost her parents. She immediately began to ponder if she had really been such an unfilial child.

Losing both of your parents before your very eyes; this was something no child should have to experience. Tears began to form from her eyes as she kept walking forward without a destination in mind. She was simply looking for something she could cling to tightly, a form of refuge. The gentle breeze, the beautiful landscape, the clear weather, none of these could ease the turmoil in Hokuto's mind.

Deep inside she knew her parents were already lost to her. They had sacrificed her in exchange for her survival. She utterly regretted neglecting her swordsmanship now if she hadn't regretted it before. The <North Star Lily Sword Art> would be impossible to procure now as it belonged to the "Neo-Abyssal Temple," known as the Council. Clenching her fists, Hokuto continued to walk forward. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of Hokuto's feet crunching the grass on the ground.

Hokuto looked at herself and discovered she was wearing a pastel yellow sundress. It was as if she was on vacation, but the mood was anything but that. After what felt like an eternity, she saw a woman in the distance wearing a white semi-transparent gown, exposing her natural features. She possessed a healthy figure and reminded Hokuto of her mother, Queen Tyris.

The woman in the distance looked back at Hokuto with a concerned expression. Hokuto looked back and saw the bed of flowers around her feet. Then, she came to a realization. This wasn't real; it was a dream. She was experiencing something because of her affinity with Nature. The woman was silent and only opened her mouth to speak when Hokuto got close enough to her.

"My child." the woman spoke in an incredibly soft voice. It was comforting to hear after the ordeal the child had just gone through.

"Who... are you?" Hokuto weakly eked out, still evidently shaken up.

"My identity isn't very important. What you have to realize is that you can't just give up," the woman totally ignored Hokuto's question and deflected it with a non-answer. "You've been given an incredible blessing. Your potential allows you to reach for the sky. Time changes everything. Eventually, the world's beauty will be lost to the forces of evil."

Hokuto shook her head. "I'm lost. I do not understand. This is too much! Why should I believe you?"

The woman approached Hokuto herself until they were in touching distance of each other. The woman gently took the child into her loving embrace, as if Hokuto were her own daughter. "Your mother misses you. She has no regrets bringing you into the world. But you have to stay strong. With your blessing, you can prevent evil from rising again. It is what your mother and father would want."

Hokuto looked up at the woman's face - she looked motherly, kind, protective... gentle...

"You have experienced great misfortunes to be here in spite of your nature's blessing. However, now is the time to wake up. Now is the time to realize the full potential that your body is capable of achieving." the woman whispered into Hokuto's ears reassuringly. Then, she placed a palm onto her forehead.

Huge tides of fierce, azure sea enveloped the entire field as Hokuto's hair began to rapidly change color from black to green... Eventually, she too, was drowned in the waves.

...

Fwooooosh!

Hokuto was now lying inside a plain white infirmary bed. A wave of fierce wind energy suddenly emanated from her form causing the person who was supposed to be watching over her to fall backwards from her chair, yelping.

"What a fierce wind force!" the person who fell gasped in exclamation. She then looked over the unconscious Hokuto whose eyelids were finally twitching. She was also incredibly shocked to see Hokuto's hair was suddenly green in color. The ten year old child came to and looked around.

"Where am I?!"

The first thing Hokuto saw was a woman in her mid-twenties who had platinum blonde hair. She was wearing a red nun habit and had piercing brown eyes.

"Who are you?!" Hokuto pointed at the woman in the nun habit.

"Calm down, calm down," she responded defensively. "You've woken up after being unconscious for two weeks!"

"Two weeks!" Hokuto gasped out in surprise.

"I'm the head nurse of the Royal Hospital of Myria-Rune, Claire de Luna. I was tasked to take care of you under orders of the Python Coven's Head Witch. Apparently she owed the [Rose Sword Saint] a favor, but the Mage Empress of Myria-Rune would have ordered it anyways." Claire introduced herself.

"I'm in Myria-Rune!" Hokuto gasped once again in surprise. "So, that teleportation portal Sir Grenseal made..."

"Oh, it was Sir Grenseal, huh. Truth to be told, he has a crush on the [Rose Sword Saint] but I am pretty sure she only sees him as a close friend. In any case, the news about the North Blossom Kingdom has made a huge stir in Heralldia. I am terribly sorry about what happened to your parents... Nothing I say can bring them back, though."

Now that Hokuto took the time to calm herself down, she was dumb-struck when she discovered Claire looked very similar to the woman in her dream. However, she did not mention anything about her dream. Claire coughed softly. "I could feel intense Nature energy surging through your body. I think you should spend some time to recover and gain your bearings here. This must be your first time in the Magic Kingdom. I believe the Mage Empress would like to see you soon enough."

Hokuto didn't imagine that she would be gaining asylum in the Magic Kingdom. She knew that those guys who killed her parents and took over her kingdom were incredibly powerful. What if they knew she was taken to Myria-Rune? Would they chase after her? Hokuto temporarily set aside those thoughts for now though.

"Why would the Mage Empress like to see me?" Hokuto asked curiously.

"You are the second person aside from the [Rose Sword Saint] to cultivate the internal martial arts. We know you succeeded because it has been happening ever since you got here."

Hokuto's expression turned strange. Was she cultivating it while unconscious? Did the dream she had have anything to do with it?

Claire continued to explain herself. "The Mage Empress is very interested in you. She would like to assess your talent."

"But I'm still the Princess of the North Blossom Kingdom."

"Not anymore," Claire sighed with a tinge of melancholy. "The North Blossom Kingdom has already installed a new Queen. They claim that your parents died to illness, but that's obviously not the case. If you tried to come back now, which would be impossible, mind, since the entire place has been sealed under a black magic dome, you wouldn't be recognized as royalty anymore."

Hokuto clenched her fists.

"I'm sorry... I really am. For now, you will be treated as a diplomatic guest of the Magic Kingdom. Information of you being a refugee will be sealed. The Mage Empress will be discussing the arrangements with you. The Clockwork Kingdom is currently attempting to gain some information on the North Blossom Kingdom's situation. Please do your best to recover. Anyway, I have some important business to attend to. Please get some more rest."

Hokuto stared into space as Claire left the room.

"So... I've lost my parents. I've lost my right to the kingdom's sword art, so by proxy not only was my right to the throne stolen, I'm technically no longer recognized as the kingdom's heiress." Hokuto summarized her current situation to herself as she was alone. She looked at her hands with an unsightly expression. "I will... no, I must! I must get my revenge...!"

"To do that, I have to surpass everyone and become the strongest! Nature is on my side. I won't lose!"